


Requiem

by vanishedSchism



Category: Trumps (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: F/M, GUSRF, assorted other trumps characters that show up for a single chapter, not to mention a large amount of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-18 21:04:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4720394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanishedSchism/pseuds/vanishedSchism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How does a hero cope with loss? Everyone has their ways. Some find the nearest threat and they hit it. And they hit it. And they keep hitting it. Some spend all the time leading up to the memorial constructing a beautiful eulogy, a piece that will ensure their friend is never forgotten. Some take comfort in the presence of other people, people who share their grief. </p><p>After Earth’s first encounter with aliens goes horribly wrong, Jay Green, who the world knows as Phoenix, copes in his own way. He remembers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Requiem was written as a fic that doesn't require any previous knowledge of the Trumps verse to read. If you're new to Trumps, you can still read this fic!

Jay sighed as he looked over the dinner specials. Who would ever voluntarily eat baked turbot? Or, perhaps more accurately, who’d ever eat it twice? He shook his head, vaguely disappointed with whatever butterfly a hundred thousand years ago had flapped its wings and set the series of events into motion that had somehow ended with a dish that managed to be bland, salty and soggy all at the same time on his college’s dinner menu. At least there was no cause and effect chain that was forcing him to eat it. 

Maybe the salad bar would have better options. 

It didn’t as far as food went, the greens looked like they’d been squashed by a couple dozen steamrollers before finding their way into the salad basin. Luckily balsamic vinaigrette will drown out a lot of shit. 

Next he needed tomatoes. 

He picked up a pair of tongs and began looking for the ripest ones. 

“To your left, under the squished one, though I don’t know why you care.”

Jay didn’t turn around, just followed the instructions. Sure enough, there was a whole cherry tomato, an even shade of red, right there. 

“So I can have some control of my life, Casey. If I don’t have perfect tomatoes, what do I have?” 

“Time for an actual life? On the right, tucked in the corner there.”

He shrugged and grabbed his last tomatoes then followed her towards the cashier. Meals assembled and paid for, Jay made it all the way to the table before flopping down with his head in his arms. 

“I really hate you sometimes,” he groaned, not looking up. 

“Aww, did your midterm go that bad?”

“Ylides are bullshit. Arrow pushing is bullshit. Molecular orbitals are a special kind of bullshit and retrosynthesis can fuck the fuck right off.” 

“I’d offer to help but…” she trailed off and he picked up the slack. 

“But you can’t. Ugh, don’t worry about it, I’m just complaining.” He pushed himself into a vaguely upright position, “Can we talk about literally anything else right now?” 

“No problem. Did you hear that Supreme Court case finally got resolved?”

Jay frowned, trying to think about all the cases Casey had mentioned in the past couple of weeks. He managed to narrow it down to three options, but couldn’t for the life of him remember which of the cases were local and what had gotten all the way to the Supreme Court. “Which one?”

“The one about dueling. Where Rapidshot and Focus dueled on a pier right after a pretty intense car chase. Focus killed Rapidshot and tried to use the Dueling Defense when she was arrested. So this entire thing goes through the court system and we finally have a decision.” 

“And?”

“People are calling it the Insufficient Sharks Decision.”

He paused, making sure he’d heard that right. “…Insufficient sharks?”

“Yes! Because of the precedent set by White Noise v. Lord Catastrophe, for duels to be legally recognized they have to be sufficiently dramatic. The Justice used the word 'cinematic’ in making her decision. For this case then, the major question was whether or not this situation was sufficiently dramatic. The pier they were fighting on was rotted and falling apart, and the duel was with lethal weapons, laser pistols on one side and straight up lasers on the other. The pier was in real danger of collapsing, but there weren’t any other dangerous elements.”

“Who won?”

“The case? I’m about to get to that. The prosecution-“

“No, I mean who won the duel?”

“Focus. She was sued on behalf of Rapidshot.” 

“Oh, that makes sense. Rapidshot v. Focus right?”

“Exactly. So the prosecution prepares their closing statements and he says-“

Jay cut her off before she had a chance to recite the entire closing argument. “Could you summarize?”

She blinked, as if she was surprised to be interrupted, then looked down sheepishly. “Yes, I can do that. Sorry. Give me a second.” 

She disappeared. 

It was exactly like the first time he met her, when she winked right out of existence after he complimented her dress. He thought he’d hallucinated her at first, but she came back two seconds later with something to say about every button on his jacket. It wasn’t until he’d known her for a couple of months that she explained what had happened. Apparently her power allowed her to mess with time in such a way that she’d disappear for a couple of seconds while she had a couple of minutes to think. During this time she could also pull up any reading she’d ever done that might relate to the situation on hand. 

He imagined that’s what she was doing now, slowing time to look at the documents and construct a succinct overview for him. 

She reappeared. 

“The case covered a lot of minor things, but the decision hinged on the question of whether or not the scene was dramatic enough for the Old Times Rule. Because the dock was so fragile, the prosecution focused on the lack of danger from the water. Both parties could swim, so they argued there wasn’t any drama from that front. The prosecutor said, and this is the reason the case is so great, “maybe if the water was shark infested, you’d have an argument, but without that fatal risk, there isn’t sufficient drama to justify the duel.” And that was enough. When the Justice made her decision, she said, “I know sufficient drama when I see it, and this wasn’t it.””

“And that’s why the case is being called the Insufficient Sharks decision,” Jay said, nodding. “I get it.” He grinned at her. “Guess this curtails your plans to duel Anders to the death?”

She made a face. “Don’t worry. I have a contingency plan. We just need to make sure it happens on top of a roller coaster.” 

“I don’t think that’s going to be enough. You need to add a machine that’ll make it rain fire.”

“Yes! That’s perfect. I’ll formally challenge him on Thursday.” 

“Okay, but you don’t have a name. What are they going to call the case, Kid Asshole v. Google? Nah, you couldn’t do that, those are both trademarked.”

She shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.” 

“I’m just saying, you should have a name. Like, something to conceal your secret identity.”

“Why? I’m not going to be a hero.”

“But you _could_ be.” 

“Eat your salad.”

He tucked into his limpid greens.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse at Jay's family.

Jay fumbled with his phone, his shaking hands making it difficult to type in his unlock code. Finally he got it and called the number he’d been thinking about since he’d left for Ohio. “Casey? Casey, I think I just died.”

Casey didn’t respond for a couple seconds, but when she did speak, her voice was calm. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No, no. The barn’s on fire and my cousin was in there but he got out before it got too bad. My uncle’s trying to put it out now, but everyone’s freaking out. Peter thought he killed me and I can’t- I can’t explain, I don’t know what to do and I’m freaking out.” 

“The first thing you need to do is breathe. Are you far enough away from the smoke?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m on a hill a little ways away, they can’t hear.”

“Okay, then breathe with me. In. One. Two. Three. Out. Two. Three. Are you doing that?”

Jay nodded vigorously. On the other end, Casey kept counting. Jay did his best to sync his breaths with the numbers. After a while, he calmed down enough to be able to breathe and speak at the same time. 

“You still there Jay?”

“Case, I died.” His voice felt quiet even to his own ears. He wasn’t sure she could even hear him. 

“I know,” she said, calm as ever, “but you came back, right? You’re here.” 

“I’m still alive.”

“Yeah, you are. And you’re going to stay that way. I know you’re freaked out right now, and you have every reason to be, but Jay, you have _superpowers_. That’s pretty cool.”

“I guess it is.”

“Damn right it is. How are you feeling?”

He let out an incredulous laugh. 

“Come on, take a second and describe it to me. Deep breath first.”

Jay took a couple of deep breaths before he began talking. “I’m pretty shaken up, but no one’s hurt. And my power worked exactly like I expected, which is, which is a great confirmation. But I explode into a pillar of fire when I die. I _died_ Casey. I died and if I didn’t have this power I’d be _gone_ and my cousin would be standing in the barn with my bloody remains and he’d think it’s all his fault and I’dnevergraduatecollege and itwouldbebad, I’d justbegone.” He started talking faster and faster until the words just rolled into one another.

Casey cut him off. “But you’re here now, and that’s what matters. You’re alive and I’m right here. I may be states away, but I’m not going to leave you.”

True to her word, Casey stayed on the phone with him for what was probably another hour, offering silent company and occasional advice while he sat down and processed what had happened and tried to get his thoughts and emotions in order. 

When he felt significantly calmer, he stood up. “Okay, I’m okay to talk to my family.”

“Good luck Jay.”

“Thanks. I’ll call you later.” He hung up the phone and looked back toward the barn. The fire was out, and although everyone was kind of staring at the still-smoking barn, they all seemed to be okay. He walked toward his family. 

His sister was the first person to notice him. “Jay,” she hissed “where have you _been_?” 

“I needed to get away.”

“Dad is _freaking_ out. Last anyone saw you were in the barn.”

“Peter saw me leave.”

She crossed her arms. “Peter’s also convinced he saw you impaled by a pitchfork so Dad’s not really inclined to listen to him right now.” 

“I’ll talk to him.” 

Lisa nodded curtly and left, walking towards a group of people standing next to the blackened barn. Three of the people were talking as the fourth, his aunt, walked around the barn, presumably inspecting the damage. 

A little ways away, Jay’s dad was smoking. Jay winced when he saw that. His dad had gone through packs over the past couple of weeks, a sharp increase from his usual one or two sticks a week. The last thing Jay wanted was to exacerbate that problem, but it looked like it was a bit late for that. 

His dad turned as he walked up. 

“Jay!” he exclaimed. “You’re back.” 

Jay didn’t meet his dad’s eyes. “Yeah. I needed a bit of time to myself, sorry.” 

“But you’re okay?”

Jay nodded. 

“Then that’s what matters.” He looked toward the charred barn. “We’ll have to help pay for the damage, but I’m sure we’ll manage. I’m glad you’re okay.” 

“Me too Dad.” 

Jay embraced his father, letting the too-tight hug last longer than he needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can listen to the playlist Casey made Jay [here](http://8tracks.com/vanishedschism/jay-s-mix)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nudge: Boston shows up in this chapter!

“Do you think I could sue the sun?” 

Jay opened his eyes and, as they were assaulted by the medium-sized star in question, immediately regretted that decision. “If you do, I’ll be a witness.” 

Casey hummed beside him. “I don’t think I’d win. I’ll bet the sun has some great lawyers. And humidity would be on it’s side.” 

“Man, fuck humidity,” Jay groaned, still not moving from where he was lying, his arm now thrown over his eyes.”Remind me again why I agreed to stay in this hellscape over the summer.” 

“Because you have an internship and I needed a roommate.” 

He sat up and blinked at Casey. “I was expecting you to make a joke, but yeah, those are both true. Want to get some ice cream or something?” 

“There is nothing I’d like more. Except maybe a fan. Or an entire pool. Or- Hang on, I can make a list if you wait…”

Jay just grinned and offered her a hand to pull her up. She apparently decided he got the point because she didn’t disappear to give herself time to put together a list of all the possible things that could help them stave off the hot mugginess of the Boston summer. He pulled her toward the ice cream truck. 

It looked like they weren’t the only ones who were looking for a treat to stave off the summer heat. A group of kids, dressed mostly in black and red, were gathered in front of the truck laughing and pushing each other around as they decided what to order. 

A kid dressed like a ninja was peeling open an ice cream sandwich as someone next to them kept plucking at their clothes, probably examining for rips and tears. The others were crowded around the side of the van, occasionally yelling at the tallest of them who was by the window. Presumably they were the one paying. 

“The heroes of our generation. I’m not sure about you, but I feel safe leaving my city in their ice cream covered hands.”

“The Boston Herald doesn’t agree with you. Though they seem to have a minority opinion.” Casey said from beside him. 

“About the use of teenagers as superheroes?” 

She nodded. “The paper says that it’s because this kind of stuff is too dangerous for kids, but most comments point out that they’re going to use their powers anyway, so it’s probably best that they have some structure and support in that. Not to mention the more practical angle of them being able to handle smaller threats that are still issues but don’t really need to take too much of the Force’s attention.” 

“And it can’t hurt that they’re also being given the opportunity to be around people their own age who have some idea of what they’re going though.” 

She grinned and nudged him with her elbow. “Yeah, that must be nice, having people who know how discovering powers feels.” 

“Don’t give yourself too much credit, you still haven’t exploded.” 

“Should I fix that? So I can truly understand you on an unparalleled level?” 

“To do _that_ you’d have to experience getting a tattoo and then losing it the next time you detach your arm. Honestly, I don’t think it’s worth it.” 

She laughed. “Not worth it.” 

“All that effort down the drain!” he lamented. 

Casey kept giggling next to him. When Jay had resorted to falling on the ground and making gestures that would have made Hamlet proud, she nudged him with her sandal. “Come on you melodramatic dork, Nudge is gone and ice cream’s on me.” 

Well, if there was one thing that could get him off the ground it was free food. 

Still, he wasn’t going to do it without complaining. He groaned as he stood up and pushed some of his red hair out of his eyes. He had no idea how Casey managed to look so _neat_ , how even when they were both sweating and doing their best to ignore the sun, her dark hair was neatly braided and her eyes sparkled as she teased him about his powers. 

“Are you still boring enough to want a popsicle?” 

Jay gasped. “You did _not_ just say that! Popsicles offer a great variety of flavors and occasionally textures.” 

“You always get strawberry.” 

“Yes, but the point is I _could_ get anything, because popsicles offer that sort of choice. Unlike neapolitan bars which are just another way of not choosing.” 

“If I were a more easily offended woman, you would have just lost your free ice cream for that comment. Luckily for you, I am far more tolerant of people’s choices than you. Less set in my archaic ways.” 

“Are you calling popsicles archaic?” 

Casey just raised an eyebrow. 

“Wow, if I didn’t have to go home with you I might stomp off in a huff right now.” 

“And if I wasn’t buying your boring popsicle.” 

Jay sighed, raising his hands in defeat. “Yep, you got me, I’m stuck with you. Now go get me my frozen milk.” 

She rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving Jay to watch as she paid and then chatted with the ice cream man. The man laughed, then disappeared from the window. A moment later a familiar jingle began playing. Casey clapped her hands like a child. 

When the song was done, she paid and headed back up the hill, toward Jay. She handed him his popsicle then unwrapped her own ice cream bar. 

“Hearing that made me feel like a kid again.” Jay said around a mouthful of artificial strawberry flavoring. “Or actually, specifically like one of those kids we saw earlier. Running up to the truck that came down our street after a hard day of work.” 

“Work?”

“Entertaining my sister was _totally_ work.” 

“Of course.” She smirked, but she also let him continue. 

“I don’t know, it makes you think. About being a kid, about _those_ kids. About using these abilities we’ve been given to _do_ something.” 

“Jay,” she said, an edge of warning to her voice. This was a conversation they’d _almost_ had many times. 

“No, come on, it’s summer, hear me out. I know how you feel about your abilities, how you don’t think you could go out there and be on the field. I’m not saying you should. I’m not saying _I_ particularly should. What I _am_ saying is that we can be doing more with our powers. We could be helping people, in whatever form that takes. No combat necessary.” 

“I still want to get a law degree.” 

“This doesn’t have to impinge on that. Hell, you’re always going on about superhero-“ he broke off as she gave him a look, “-okay fine, _cape_ laws. You love it _and_ you’re a natural.”

“And you?” 

“I mean, I could be an assistant or something. It’s not like I’m doing anything I love right now. How much worse could a desk job be from retail?” 

“Whoah, you are moving _way_ too fast here Jay. We’re still in college.” 

“Not forever. I’m going to learn how to use a sword. I can do more than just burn buildings Case, just like you can.” 

“Our talents are a little different, Jay. You’re-“

“Able to not die and throw my limbs around. And you can jump out of a combat situation and find out everything known about the person attacking you. You’re not useless, Casey. You never have been.”

Casey frowned, then disappeared. 

“Case in point!” Jay shouted, even though he knew she wouldn’t be able to hear him. Five seconds later, she reappeared. 

“I hate it when you’re right.” She looked away. “But you are. I think we’ve both been underutilizing our talents. Not to say we should immediately go fight a supervillain or anything, but you’re probably right about starting to get some practice in. And maybe learn how to use a couple weapons.” She paused, though it looked like there was something else she wanted to say. “Jay,” she continued, “I think this is a good idea, but I’m still not sure _I_ can handle it. You’ll-“ 

“I’ll look after you of course. I doubt you’ll need it, but I’ll be there every step of the way.” 

She folded the wrapper back over her half eaten ice cream bar. “We’ll need codenames of course.” 

“Well I think that playlist you made me after Ohio makes mine pretty clear.” 

“Phoenix fits you _perfectly_ Jay. You literally can’t argue with that. Unless you were thinking about calling yourself Somebody to Die For?” she grinned. 

“Oh god no, that’s a _terrible_ name. You’re right, Phoenix is kind of perfect. A little scarily perfect but hey, what can you do? Casey? Casey, why are you smiling like that?” 

“Right, Jay, you said I’m _right_.” She kept grinning as Jay caught on and groaned. “We’d be Phoenix and _Right_.” 

“I hate you.” 

“I know! I should make myself a playlist! I could probably find one already. Jay, we could make this happen.” 

“Case, you’re ridiculous.” 

“I know!” She jumped up and hugged him. “We could be _superheroes_!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, not all superheroes are immediately professionals.

“Phoenix!” 

Casey’s voice in his ear cut through the haze that was making it hard to think. Jay closed his eyes and tried to just focus on that. Casey was sniping from a nearby building. Casey was probably safe because she wasn’t in close proximity to their enemy. Their enemy was directly in front of _him_. She-

His thoughts were abruptly cut off as something sharp slammed into what, he realized a second later, was his neck. 

The decapitation was followed by that particular sensation he got when he came back from the dead. He wasn’t able to appreciate it fully the first time, but in the couple of times since, he’d gotten the chance to fully examine the feeling. His entire body would tingle with a heat that seemed to spread directly from the wound, in this case his open neck. Then the heat would intensify until it was so hot that it completely faded. That’s when he lost all feeling, though he knew, on a level, that his body was erupting into flame. 

In the next blink, he was back. He had a head again, Shadow Catcher was screaming, and there was a scorch mark on the ground. Jay quickly bent to pick up his dropped sword, then cut in a sweeping arc right where Shadow Catcher… 

was… 

She was gone, teleported to who knows where. 

“Fuck,” Jay muttered, turning wildly around as he tried to spot his target. 

Shadow Catcher was a murderer, they couldn’t let her get away. 

Jay heard Casey curse as a shop window shattered. 

“Alright Phoenix, she’s a close range teleporter, specifics are vague but given her name and costume it definitely has something to do with shadows. Watch your back she’ll try and sneak-“ 

Casey’s voice was abruptly cut off by a clash of what sounded like metal on metal. 

“Fuck!” she practically screamed over the comm. “Hand!” 

Jay ran towards the building where Casey had set up. He could see the fight through the second floor window, Casey fending off Shadow Catcher with her gun. Jay immediately noticed the fight going south. A sniper rifle isn’t the best choice against a sword in most circumstances and Casey wasn’t the greatest hand to hand fighter at the best of times. She needed a hand, or, more precisely, an arm. 

Jay grabbed his left arm and yanked. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to the fact that he could pull off his own limbs, but he didn’t really have time to be squeamish right now. He judged the distance than used his enhanced strength to throw the arm through the second floor window, into the room Casey and Shadow Catcher were fighting in. The arm erupted in a column of flame when it hit the floor. 

Suddenly he started feeling lightheaded. If he hadn’t removed one of his limbs before, he would have said it was because of his missing arm- it felt a lot like the lightheadedness that resulted from major blood loss, but he knew from experience detaching his limbs didn’t make him bleed. Before he could figure out what was happening, something hard slammed into the back of his head. 

“I’m looking for the words to explain how impressed I am.” A dry voice said from somewhere above Jay. 

Jay used his sword to help him stand up. His vision was swimming, but he hadn’t erupted into flame, so things could be worse. 

“You’re opening yourself up to attack,” the blurry figure in front of him said, gesturing at him with their sword. 

“You try this with one arm,” Jay practically growled. He didn’t know who this new person was, whether they were hostile or what, but he could already tell they were going to make his life harder than it needed to be.

Casey must have noticed his tension because she began listing information in his ear. “The new arrival is named Justice, as made apparent by their costume. They’re typical a loner hero and have an impressive record. They probably know we’re the good guys here, so they’re not a threat, though they’re also not much of a team player."

Jay nodded a little to show that he understood. She was right, now that Jay’s vision was starting to clear, he could see what she was talking about. The person in front of him wore a thick red robe offset by the deep green cloak clasped at their neck. The cloak matched the blindfold over their eyes. 

“I could,” they said, far too late to actually be a response to Jay’s comment, not to mention there was nothing challenging or confrontational in their deadpan tone. 

They might have said more, but just then Shadow Catcher appeared inside their shadow, sword raised. Before she could swing down though, Justice raised their own sword over their head to block, then twisted and sucker punched Shadow Catcher in the liver. She slowly crumpled. Justice stepped out of the way and lowered their sword right before she collapsed to the ground. Through all that, their head never turned away from Jay. 

“Should we, uh, tie her up?” Casey asked, emerging from the building. Her sleeve was a little singed and she was carrying a fire extinguisher, but she seemed otherwise unharmed. 

“You should have died."

‘i’m going to take that as a yes,” Casey said as she pulled out a rope and began wrapping it around the unconscious villain. They’d need something sturdier in case she woke up, but the rope would at least slow her down. 

‘if she hadn’t been as incompetent as you, you would have,’ Justice insisted.

Jay saw Casey clench her jaw and hurried to respond before she could. “We had it under control.” 

The blindfold made it hard to see Justice’s expression, but from what Jay could tell, they were incredibly unimpressed. “That kind of thinking gets amateurs killed. It’s bad enough that you went out on your own- and with no preparation- but you didn’t even know what feats that woman could perform, much less what she might be willing to do. Next time leave it to the professionals.” 

Apparently that was it. They’d swooped in, thoroughly debated the newbies for daring to try, and were about to swoop out, just like that. 

“The professionals,” Casey said icily, making Justice pause, “were otherwise occupied.” She crossed her arms when she realized she had Justice’s attention. 

“Shadow Catcher killed two people in the past two hours and would have killed more if we’d allowed her pattern to continue. We may not be the most experienced, but we saved lives today, and while we appreciate your help and would have had a lot more trouble without you, that wouldn’t have happened if we’d just stayed home.” She shifted her weight nervously and uncrossed her arms. “Also, we have business cards, so we’re technically professionals.” 

That made Justice grin. 

“You should have mentioned earlier, business cards change everything!” they said, in a way that made Jay about 80% sure they were fucking with him and Casey. 

“So yeah,” Jay broke in, “we’re working on the experience gathering part.” 

Justice nodded slowly, seemingly considering something. 

Or maybe they had just fallen asleep. 

A couple of tense seconds later they said, “You need allies. Look into GUSRF.” 

Before Jay could ask what the fuck ‘GUSRF’ was, Casey had blinked out of existence and Justice had left. He sighed and glanced toward Shadow Catcher- still unconscious. 

When Casey returned, she gave him a lowdown on the organization. GUSRF or, the General United States Response Force, was a collection of superpowered people that signed up to be at the force’s beck and call and deal with threats (mostly dangerous villains that might require more than one person to capture) and bring them in. Casey listed off some of their most recent exploits. 

It was definitely something to consider.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is based on the events of Encounter (Season One, Pilot). I'd suggest checking out >a href="http://trumps.wikia.com/wiki/Encounter_(Season_One,_Pilot)"the wiki for complete summaries of the other GUSRF characters, but that's not necessary to understand this chapter. 
> 
> Also this is where the major character death comes in.

Phoenix watched the world fall apart around him. He’d been prepared to die. They all had. Really, it was in the job description, put your life on the line for the benefit of unpowered civilians. That’s what the General United States Response Force was about, or at the very least it was what had drawn him and Right to the organization. 

But there was a difference between being willing to put your life on the line and sacrificing it. When the alien ripped apart one of the physically strongest capes he’d ever seen, he knew they had to neutralize this threat. He ran straight in and did his best to damage it, hacking away with his sword. Chips of what may have been metal occasionally fell as he swung, as Lurch bashed its face in above him and as Right and Oversight collaborated to find some weakness, something they could exploit to destroy the creature. 

The plan failed and it stopped toying with them. It ripped Lurch apart and was gone before the blood hit the ground. He turned in time to see it kick the girl that had called its bluff and he was already running by the time he heard screaming. 

By the time he arrived at the mesa, it was already grabbing Lurch. Lurch, who was wearing the tattered remains of Casey’s costume. If he hadn’t been in the middle of a fight, if he hadn’t been terrified enough to believe that if any of them stopped their onslaught this monster would twitch its finger and kill all of them, then go on to slaughter hundreds of millions of people on the mainland, he would have collapsed. If he’d had the time, he would have dropped his sword and sank to his knees. But he didn't have the time. He needed to stop this monster before it could destroy anyone else’s life. 

He charged. 

And it vanished. 

He swung his sword just in case. In case it only turned invisible, in case it was trying to fake him out, but he knew that wasn't the case. After all, it had dropped the body. 

Casey. 

She looked like herself at that moment. Her clothes were stretched and ripped in places, her hair was a mess and she was bleeding from where she hit the ground, but it was definitely _her_. Lurch’s spirit had moved on to a different host. 

He had to stop himself from running up to her. They’d all been debriefed on Lurch’s power. He knew that once Lurch stole someone, they didn’t, they _couldn't_ come back. Even if his spirit moved on, there was no longer anything left to replace it. The former host would lay in a coma until the body expired. Right was gone. 

He turned away and swung at the open air again. He wasn't not surprised when he didn't hit anything, but that wasn’t really the point. Attacking the air is easier than thinking. He could hear the suggestions and ideas the knowers tossed out through the mind-link but with nothing to contribute, he ignored the chatter. Focusing would mean thinking and thinking is not something he could afford to do right then. Not if he wanted to save the world. Not if he wanted Casey’s death to mean something. 

He swung at the air again and again, until he was interrupted by a sudden exclamation via the mind link. 

_“Wren!”_

He looked up to see the girl that Mockingbird had sent for reinforcements rushing through the sky.

 _“The reinforcements are on my tail, they’ll be here in a few minutes,”_ she said. Then, almost as soon as she’d arrived, she was gone, having hopped into Mockingbird’s pocket dimension. No sooner had she gone than Jay heard the whirring of a helicopter. Moments later he saw the machine meant to cary their saviors. 

A skeleton was flying it. Marilyn. He recognized Vehicular Manslaughter in the co-pilot’s seat. 

The helicopter landed as Wren popped out of Mockingbird’s portal with an armful of mines. Mockingbird began giving her directions over the mind-link. Suddenly the link was full, not of Mockingbird’s instructions to his familiar, but rather with an uninterrupted string of very unique curse words punctuated only by screaming.

The reinforcements ran out of the helicopter when he and Mockingbird winced and clapped their hands over their ears. It didn’t help, Oversight continued shrieking in their heads. 

“LISTEN, EVERYONE!” one of the reinforcements, a man Jay recognized as Sarcophagus, yelled. He was probably yelling so he could be heard over the helicopter, but it was doubly necessary because of the mind link. When Jay looked up, he saw the man was flanked by the leader of MORDRED, Prestige, and a hero he knew was affiliated with Mockingbird and Ariadne, Apollo. Vehicular Manslaughter was still in the helicopter. 

“I KNOW WE’RE NOT WHO YOU WERE EXPECTING, BUT DON’T GIVE UP HOPE. WE ARE ALL SKILLED, EXPERIENCED, AND COMPLETELY FRESH SUPERS. WE ARE ENOUGH REINFORCEMENTS, DO NOT GIVE UP HOPE.” 

Jay had his doubts about that, but he’d already accepted his death. With these capes’ help, he was going to bring that bastard down with him. He turned away from the reinforcements and leapt down to the ledge he’d previously been occupying. Mockingbird and two of his constructs joined him on the ledge, set up right in front of the mine Wren had dropped. 

It didn’t take long for the alien to decide it was done with Oversight and come running towards the three of them. The only warning Jay got was three explosions, each immediately after the other, before the alien was standing in front of him once more. Its legs were damaged with cracks and furrows, but otherwise it looked unhurt. 

Before Phoenix could charge it, Mockingbird began talking. 

“Shit. I-I think it’s time to use my final power. I didn’t want to, I thought we do this without resorting to these drastic measures, but I don’t know what else to do. SPEAKER! I THINK IT’S TIME FOR MY SOLUTION!"

Another voice, Speaker’s, yelled from across the ridge. “Do it Mockingbird! The benefits of your cancellation power don’t outweigh the risks!” 

“It’s- it’s going to exhaust me, but I think you’re right. I’m g-going to do it!” 

The poor kid was trembling, but the alien seemed concerned enough about this cancellation power, something that might even rival its own, that the veins popped up, crisscrossing over its approximation of skin. The very same veins that Right and Oversight had told them to attack. 

All at once, the battlefield erupted in sound. A machine gun began firing to his left, unloading into the alien. One of the constructs, the one with the pike, lunged forward and plunged his weapon into the alien’s chest with a crackle of electricity. Phoenix just swung his sword in great arcs, aiming to sever the fat vein standing out on its leg.

Jay couldn’t say what eventually killed it, whether it was the electricity, or machine gun, or even precision shots that hit the right web of veins on its back, but almost as soon as the attack began, it was over. The veins shattered, exploding like glass, and in less time than it took to blink, there was nothing left of the alien but a perfectly smooth sphere at Jay’s feet. 

The construct that had been braced against its chest did an impressive backwards flip in the air to keep from landing on it. Jay cautiously touched it with his sword. Nothing happened. He backed away to let the reinforcements deal with containment. Sarcophagus probably had a way to make that happen. 

His job, at least, was done. 

He turned away from the alien-sphere and saw that Mockingbird had fallen to his knees. Jay thought about trying to comfort them, or maybe just thank them for probably saving everyone’s life, but he couldn’t find the words, and anyway, the constructs were already there, keeping silent company. Jay decided to leave well enough alone and continued his trek toward the mesa. 

Standing outside Vehicular Manslaughter’s helicopter was just as awkward as Jay expected it to be. The reinforcements wanted to to celebrate, he could see it in their eyes. And why shouldn’t they? They’d arrived when things looked their worse, a miracle happened and now the world was safe. It was worth, at the very least, a pat on the back. 

But while some of them had friends that hadn’t made it (Apollo, for instance, was clearly torn between staying where he was and rushing to comfort his teammate) none of them had seen the devastation that thing had wreaked. Jay tried to find the words to describe how he felt, about losing Casey, about defeating the alien, about the threat and the new arrivals, but he couldn’t come up with anything that felt true. He supposed that meant he was feeling ‘shock’ but the word itself didn’t fit with his confusion. 

Luckily, no one tried to talk to him. He was alone now, it was time to get used to it.


End file.
